Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a wall, in particular a side wall, of a furniture body, having a panel-shaped core arranged between two laterally positioned cover layers, wherein the core has a recess extending at least along a section of an end face of the wall and serves to receive a fitting that guides a movable furniture part. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a wall and a furniture body or a piece of furniture having such a wall.
Furniture, in particular kitchen furniture such as base units or wall units, generally have a furniture body open towards the front, on which movable furniture parts guided by fittings are mounted. The movably guided furniture parts can be drawers with a drawer front or doors or flaps, which can be used individually or in different combinations in a furniture body. The present application relates in particular to the use of doors and flaps as movable furniture components. For the purposes of this application, doors and flaps are distinguished by the orientation of their pivot axis, which is vertical for doors and horizontal for flaps.
The doors and flaps can be integral or consist of several individual parts, such as a folding flap in which different parts of the flap move relative to each other in the movement sequence.
Door hinges are usually used to guide doors, which are arranged on the side of the pivot axis between the furniture body and the door. A comparable arrangement of hinges can also be used for flaps. These hinges are then arranged along an upper side edge of the flap. However, it is often desired to open the flaps in a combined pivoting and sliding movement in order, for example in the case of a wall cabinet, to obtain the greatest possible access to the interior of the cabinet without having to pivot the flap into a horizontal position in which it is difficult or impossible for the user to reach it to close. For this reason, special flap fittings have become established that are not arranged along the pivot axis between the furniture body and the flap, but on the side edges (usually both) between the flap and the side wall of the furniture body.
Such door hinges or flap fittings are well known for mounting on the inside of the side wall or side walls of the furniture body. However, the fittings inevitably protrude into the interior of the furniture body, which on the one hand reduces the usable storage space within the furniture body and on the other hand also impairs the structuring of the interior of the furniture body. The mounted fittings also make it difficult to clean the interior, especially the inside of the side wall of the furniture body. Last but not least, a side wall on which no fittings are mounted is desirable for optical reasons.
For the assembly of door hinges it is known to mill a pocket into the front side of a side wall in which the door hinge can be inserted from the front. In this way, the inside of the side wall remains free. A hinge suitable for use in such a milled pocket is known from the publication DE 1 559 963 A, for example.
However, this procedure is only suitable for door hinges with a very low installation depth. This is due to the limited milling depth with which such a pocket can be economically milled from the end face into the side wall during the manufacturing process. The installation thickness of the door hinge inserted in such a milled pocket is also very limited, as the side walls in the furniture area only have a wall thickness of about 16-20 mm (millimeters). During the milling process, a certain minimum wall thickness must remain on the side of the milled pockets, since a wall that is too thin would tear or break during the milling process or would be deformed in such a way that it no longer has a perfect surface.
Even the use of larger and more complex door hinges is not possible in this way. Flap hinges usually have a large installation depth of more than 10 or 15 cm (centimeters), which cannot be achieved by milling from the end face.
Publication DE 20 2013 003 189 U1 discloses a side wall for a furniture body that is made of different parts in sections. In particular, a rear part facing away from the furniture front is conventionally designed, e.g., by a coated wooden element. A front part of the side wall is formed by a housing, not described in detail in the above text, which has a front opening into which a fitting can be inserted. The housing is connected to the conventional part of the side wall, e.g., via dowels or screws. Since the housing can be provided with thinner housing walls than is possible by milling and also allows larger installation depths, this housing can also be used to accommodate larger door hinges or a flap fitting. However, the surface appearance and haptics of the housing will generally not correspond exactly to those of the conventional part of the side wall, so that a uniform surface of the side wall cannot be achieved. In addition, a transition between the two housing parts will be visible and optionally also perceptible.
Exemplary embodiment of the present invention are directed to a wall and a method for producing a wall for a furniture body and a piece of furniture or furniture body with a wall, wherein the wall is also able to accommodate larger fittings, in particular flap fittings, but also door hinges with a larger installation depth, and the wall is characterized by a uniform surface quality on both its outside and inside.
A wall of the type mentioned at the beginning and according to the invention is characterized in that the core has two core halves that are located one upon the other by way of their side surfaces located opposite the respective cover layer and have recesses that supplement one another to form the recess.
A method according to the invention for the production of such a wall for a furniture body comprises the following steps: providing panel-shaped core halves, into each of which a recess is introduced or which extends along at least one section of an end face of the respective core half. A lateral cover layer is applied to each of the core halves before or after the recess has been made. The two core halves are joined together to form a core, wherein the side surfaces of the core halves opposite the respective cover layer rest on top of each other.
The wall according to the invention is thus a composite element consisting of a core and cover layers, wherein the recess in the core required to accommodate the fitting is thus, in accordance with the invention, already made during the production of the wall before the cover layers are applied. Thus, there are no restrictions on the size of the recess, as is the case when the recess for the fitting is inserted in a completely prefabricated wall. This means that large fittings can also be used which, for example, take up the entire or almost the entire width of the wall. At the same time, the wall has a preferably integral, continuous cover layer on both sides.
The respective recess can, for example, be milled out of the core halves, preferably from one of the side surfaces of the core. Alternatively, the core halves, which can, for example, be made of a fiber material, can also be produced directly with the recesses in a primary forming process.
In an advantageous embodiment of the method, a fitting is inserted into the recess before at least one of the two lateral cover layers is applied to the core. Preferably, the fitting is also connected to the core before the cover layer is applied or the cover layers are applied. For example, the fitting can be screwed, clamped, and/or glued to the core before at least one of the two lateral cover layers is applied to the core. The result is a wall for a furniture body with a firmly integrated fitting, which simplifies the production of the furniture body.
In an advantageous embodiment of the method, a fitting is inserted into the recesses before the two core halves are joined together. The fitting can, for example, engage in the core halves with staples or claws to fasten it. The two core halves can be glued together and/or connected by means of further connecting means. The result is a wall for a furniture body with a firmly integrated fitting, which simplifies the production of the furniture body.
In an advantageous embodiment of the wall, the side surfaces are aligned parallel to the cover layers. Preferably at least one of the recesses penetrates the associated core half at least partially up to the respective cover layer. At most, the recess can be as wide as the two halves of the core are together. This provides the fitting with an installation width corresponding to the maximum thickness of the core. Fittings with a width of up to approx. 20 mm can also be used for furniture walls of the usual thickness. However, the recess can also be narrower than the distance between the two cover layers. The preferred wall thickness is between 15 mm and 20 mm.
The fitting is preferably connected to the core halves and/or at least one of the cover layers so that forces acting on it can be transferred as safely as possible to the wall. For example, at least one of the core halves may have a reduced thickness for connection along an edge of the respective recess in such a way that a shoulder surface is formed towards the recess, on which shoulder surface the fitting rests with at least one tab projecting beyond its edge. Preferably, the at least one tab is used to display at least one staple, which is pressed into the material of at least one half of the core in the area of the shoulder surface. This is a particularly simple way of connecting the fitting to the core during the wall manufacturing process. Alternatively, or additionally, the fitting may be bonded to the core and/or at least one of the two cover layers.
In another alternative connection method, which is also particularly simple in the wall manufacturing process, connecting elements are formed from the core halves adjacent to the recess, which engage in the fitting. The fitting then has side plates with recesses, with the recesses forming mating contours into which the connecting elements engage. Core and fitting are therefore laid one inside the other like puzzle pieces and are connected with each other in a form-fit manner. The role of connecting elements and recesses as contours and mating contours can of course also be reversed, so that the recess is formed in the core and the engaging connecting element in the fitting.
In another advantageous embodiment of the wall, the fitting can have two parallel side plates whose spacing corresponds to the thickness of the core. It is also possible for the fitting to have an adjustment unit in order to vary the distance between the side plates and thus be able to compensate for the thickness of the core.
In another advantageous embodiment of the wall, the fitting features a lever mechanism that guides the movable part of the furniture. When the movable part of the furniture is closed, the lever mechanism is preferably located between the cover layers. The fitting is then so completely integrated into the furniture body that—unavoidably—only the lever mechanism is visible, and even this only when the movable part of the furniture is open.
In another advantageous embodiment of the wall, at least one edge band is applied to at least one of the end faces of both core halves or the core. In the area of the front end face of the core, the edge band is preferably applied only when the fitting has been integrated or inserted, wherein the edge band is arranged at least in sections on the fitting. In this way, for example, the edges of the side plates of the fitting can be covered.
A piece of furniture or furniture body according to the invention has at least one such wall manufactured in accordance with a method described above. This gives rise to the advantages described in connection with the wall or the method.
In an advantageous embodiment of the piece of furniture or furniture body, at least one wall is a side wall and/or a partition wall. The fitting can be a flap fitting or a door fitting.
In the context of the application, the wall according to the invention may be arranged on either side of the furniture body, irrespective of its orientation. In particular, the wall can be arranged in any orientation within the furniture body, especially vertically, horizontally or diagonally, for example diagonally in the furniture body.